Determining an identification of a DVD based on a format of the DVD

ABSTRACT

A system, method and computer-readable storage media for digital versatile disc (DVD) identification. Media content from a DVD can be accessed and a format of the media content can be identified. An identification for the media content can be determined based upon the format. A first DVD format may be identified by matching a sequence of symbols on a DVD to format data. Content stored on the DVD in a first location that is used to generate IDs for the first DVD format may be referenced, and the content hashed to generate an ID for the DVD. The first location can be identified by referencing ID processing data that also identified other locations used to generate IDs for different DVD formats. Portions of the media content that are accessed can include directory names, folder names, or file names.

BACKGROUND

In the present paradigm, digital versatile discs (DVDs) are the dominantmedium for storing media content, such as movies. These existing orstandard DVDs store media content utilizing a standardized format.

Users often desire to be presented with metadata about the content oftheir DVDs. For instance, if the user puts a DVD that contains the movie“The Longest Yard” in a DVD player, the user may want to know when themovie was produced and who the actors are. A technique exists forgenerating a unique identification (ID) from the media content ofindividual standard DVDs.

A new paradigm is evolving around high definition DVDs in severalformats, yet standard DVDs remain in the marketplace. Specifically, manyusers have large standard DVD collections. Accordingly, consumeracceptance of the new DVD formats depends upon the availability ofDVD-players that will handle multiple, and preferably all, available DVDformats. However, the existing technique for generating unique IDs frommedia content on a DVD does not address the possibility of multiple DVDformats. Thus, the ability to offer users the features that they havecome to expect, such as related metadata cannot be realized. The presentconcepts offer solutions for determining unique IDs for various DVDformats that are not available with existing techniques.

SUMMARY

The described implementations relate to DVD identification. Tools canaccess media content from a DVD and identify a format of the mediacontent. The tools can also determine a unique identification for themedia content based upon the format.

In another implementation the tools can include a DVD format moduleconfigured to identify a format of a DVD, at least in part, by searchingcontent of the DVD for identifying aspects. In one case, the DVD formatmodule can search for identifying aspects in the form of a specificsequence of symbols that are unique to a particular DVD format. So,identification of the specific sequence of symbols can be utilized toidentify the DVD format. This implementation can also include anidentification module configured to determine a unique identification ofthe content by examining at least two portions of the content. Theunique ID can identify the content and the DVD format.

The term “tool(s)” may, for instance, refer to device(s), system(s),method(s), computer-readable instructions (e.g., one or morecomputer-readable media having executable instructions), component(s),and/or module(s), as permitted by the context above and throughout thedocument. The above listed examples are intended to provide a quickreference to aid the reader and are not intended to define the scope ofthe concepts described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate implementations of the conceptsconveyed in the present application. Features of the illustratedimplementations can be more readily understood by reference to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. Like reference numbers in the various drawings are usedwherever feasible to indicate like elements. Further, the left-mostnumeral of each reference number conveys the Figure and associateddiscussion where the reference number is first introduced.

FIG. 1 shows an example of DVD identification tools in accordance withsome implementations of the present concepts.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of DVD identification tools in the form ofsystems in accordance with some implementations of the present concepts.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of DVD identification tools in theform of methods in accordance with some implementations of the presentconcepts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

This patent application pertains to identifying digital versatile discs(DVDs). Specifically, tools are described for identifying DVDs that workfor multiple different DVD formats. From a functional perspective, onepotential goal of the present implementations can be to consistentlygenerate the same unique ID for a given DVD. For instance, when thepresent tools are applied to the DVD movie “The Unforgiven” the sameunique ID should be generated every time. This unique ID can then beassociated with metadata about the movie. This metadata can be accessedthe next time the same DVD (i.e., a DVD having the same content) isplayed. The metadata can be presented to a viewer or used in anothermanner.

Note, that some implementations can identify a DVD format in the uniqueID. Such configurations can generate the same unique ID each time aBlu-ray format DVD movie “The Unforgiven” is read. Similarly, ahigh-definition DVD (HD-DVD) format DVD movie of “The Unforgiven” shouldproduce the same unique ID each time, but the unique ID for the Blu-rayformat would be different than for the HD-DVD format. Another potentialgoal of the present tools is to avoid assigning the same unique ID totwo different DVDs. For instance, the functionality would be diminishedif the same unique ID was assigned to the movies “The Unforgiven” and“Splash” for example.

FIG. 1 shows a DVD identification (ID) tool 100 that can function withexisting and/or yet to be developed DVD formats. DVD ID tool 100 canaccess media content from a DVD at 102. For instance, the tool can readthe DVD to obtain the media content or obtain the content from a devicethat read the DVD. The DVD ID tool can identify a format of the mediacontent at 104. Identifying the format of the media content can also bethought of as identifying the format of the DVD. For instance, in onecase the DVD ID tool can search for specific sequences of symbols in thecontent that can be indicative of a specific DVD format.

At 106, the DVD ID tool determines a unique identification (unique ID)of the DVD. In some cases, the unique ID can convey the format of theDVD. For example, a unique ID for a Blu-ray format DVD might start with“BR” whereas a unique ID for a HD-DVD format may start with “HD”. Theunique ID can be correlated to metadata associated with the DVD. So, forinstance, the DVD ID tool 100 having determined the unique ID can accessa database or datatable and obtain metadata associated with the DVD.

Exemplary System Architecture/Environments

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary system architecture/operating environment 200in which DVD identification concepts described above and below can beimplemented on various devices. In this case, architecture 200 includesa DVD player 202 and a computer 204 that can be communicably coupledwith one another via a network 206. DVD player 202 can be a stand-alonedevice that has its own display device (e.g., a portable DVD player), aset-top type player configured to output to a user's television (TV), ora component of a computer, such as a personal computer (PC), amongothers. For instance, computer 204 includes a DVD player 208. In otherconfigurations, computer 204 may or may not include a DVD player.

In this case, DVD player 202 includes a DVD format module 210(1), aformat datatable 212(1), an ID module 214(1), an ID processing datatable216(1), and a metadata datatable 218(1). Alternatively or additionally,some or all of these components 210-218 can occur on computer 204 asdesignated by a “(2)” suffix.

As the name implies, DVD format module 210(1) is configured to identifya format of DVD 208. The DVD format module can examine the DVD's contentfor various parameters or aspects that can be indicative of a particularDVD format. In an illustrated example, the DVD format module can accessformat datatable 212(1) which can contain a listing of DVD formats atcolumn 220 and corresponding identifying aspects at column 222. In somecases, identifying aspects can be symbols that are unique to aparticular DVD format. So for instance, DVD format column 220 shows“HD-DVD” format 224 and identifying aspects column 222 showscorresponding symbols “VPLST000” at 226. Similarly, “Blu-ray format” isshown at 228 with identifying aspects listed as symbols “AACS”(“Advanced Access Content System”) at 230, “WMV-HD” (“Windows MediaHigh-Definition Video”) is shown at 232 and identifying aspects “menuand video folder” (“M&V Folder”) are shown at 234, and “standard” formatand “video_ts folder” are shown at 236, 238, respectively.

In some cases, format datatable 212(1) can be generated in advance byexamining a plurality of DVDs of a specific known format. For instance,tens or hundreds or thousands of Blu-ray DVDs may be examined toidentify some parameter or aspect, such as a directory name that appearsin all of the examined Blu-ray discs. For discussion purposes, assumethat a hypothetical identified directory name is “ABC123”. Thisdirectory name can be checked against discs of other formats. If thedirectory name “ABC123” occurs in all Blu-ray discs and no discs ofother formats, then it is a good candidate for inclusion in formatdatatable 212(1). The same (or similar) techniques can be applied toeach disc format to generate format datatable 212(1).

The DVD format module 210(1) can examine the contents of DVD 208 toidentify a match with any of the symbols of column 222. If a match isidentified, then the DVD format module can horizontally reference in theformat datatable 212(1) to the corresponding DVD format and therebyidentify the DVD's format. The DVD format module 210(1) can convey theidentified format match to ID module 214(1).

ID module 214(1) can utilize the format information from the DVD formatmodule 210(1) to determine a unique identification of the DVD 208. Forexample, the ID module 214(1) can examine at least two portions of theDVD content to determine the unique identification. Utilizing at leasttwo portions can help ensure that truly unique IDs can be generated forany given existing or yet to be determined DVD format. The portions canbe related to directories, folders, and/or files, among others. So forinstance, the portions may relate to a title of a directory, folder,and/or file or content within the directory, folder, and/or file. Inthis case, the ID module utilizes information from ID processingdatatable 216(1) in determining how to generate the unique ID.

ID processing table 216(1) includes a DVD format column 240 and alocation column 242. A horizontal row in the ID processing tablecorrelates an individual DVD format with a location in the DVD's contentthat can be processed to create a unique ID for the DVD. For instance,in relation to HD-DVDs 244 the table lists a VPLST000.xpl file in anAAADV_OBJ directory at 246. For Blu-ray format 248 a correspondinglocation is listed as MCMF.xml file in AACS directory and file sizes ofBDMV directory at 250. For sake of brevity, other DVD formats are notspecifically listed in ID processing datatable 216(1) but are describedin another example below.

ID processing datatable 216(1) can be generated in a similar manner tothe technique described above relative to the format datatable 212(1).As mentioned above, one goal of the present tools is to avoid assigninga unique ID to two different DVD discs. Thus, good candidates forinclusion on the ID processing table occur in essentially every DVD of agiven format yet tend to be relatively highly differentiated from oneDVD of the format to another. The locations listed in ID processingdatatable 216(1) tend to be relatively highly differentiated from discto disc. Thus, these locations are good candidates for processing togenerate a unique ID that is, in fact, unique to that particular DVD. Incomparison, locations that are relatively constant from disc to disc,especially discs of a given format, can increase a likelihood of thesame unique ID being generated for different discs.

The ID module 214(1) can process content of the DVD at the location(s)obtained from the ID processing datatable 216(1) to generate the DVD'sunique ID. In some cases, the processing can include hashing the contentat the specified location to generate the unique ID.

The ID module 214(1) can further utilize the unique ID of the DVD toobtain corresponding metadata. For instance, the ID module can access ametadata datatable 218(1) that lists unique IDs and correspondingmetadata.

Metadata datatable 218(1) includes a unique ID column 252 and a metadatacolumn 254. So for instance, looking at unique ID column 252, ahypothetical unique ID of “BD1475” is referenced horizontally to themetadata column 254 which indicates that the corresponding title is“Caddyshack”. Similarly, unique ID “BD66831” is referenced to the title“Casablanca”. In the present example, if the ID module 214(1) generatesunique ID BD1475, then the ID module can obtain corresponding metadatawhich in this case is the movie's title “Caddyshack”. The ID module canthen cause the title “Caddyshack” to be displayed for the user. Theskilled artisan should recognize other types and/or uses of metadata.

The metadata datatable 218(1) may be generated at a previous timeutilizing the techniques described above to generate unique IDs forknown DVDs. Metadata for individual DVDs is then associated with therespective unique ID. For instance, metadata can relate to title,actors, producers, directors, year of production, etc.

The above description relates to a generally free-standing configurationwhere all of the described components occur on DVD player 202. Otherimplementations can employ a distributed configuration where some or allof the components occur only on computer 204. In such implementations,computer 204 can be thought of as performing a server role where data istransmitted back and forth between DVD player 202 and computer 204 andsome or all of the processing is performed on the server. In otherdistributed configurations, DVD format module 210(1) and ID module214(1) can occur on DVD player 202, while one or more of the datatables212(2), 216(2) and/or 218(2) are maintained on computer 204. The DVDformat module 210(1) and ID module 214(1) can access the datatables oncomputer 204 as needed. For example, the metadata datatable may not bemaintained on DVD-player 202. Instead, when the DVD player generates aunique ID, the DVD player can access a remote metadata datatable, suchas metadata datatable 218(2) over network 206 to obtain thecorresponding metadata. This configuration can provide a centralizeddatatable of metadata that is easily updated as new DVDs are released.

Still another configuration can blend the stand alone and distributedconfigurations. For instance, metadata datatable 218(1) can be generatedon another device, such as computer 204 and downloaded to DVD player202. This can be a one-time event or can be re-occurring to update thedatatable to reflect new releases.

Exemplary Methods

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method or technique 300 that isconsistent with at least some implementations of the present concepts.The order in which the method 300 is described is not intended to beconstrued as a limitation, and any number of the described blocks can becombined in any order to implement the method, or an alternate method.Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware,software, firmware, or combination thereof such that a computing devicecan implement the method. In one case, the method is stored on acomputer-readable storage media as a set of instructions such thatexecution by a computing device causes the computing device to performthe method.

The method identifies a format of media content from a digital versatiledisc (DVD) by locating a specific sequence of symbols in the mediacontent at block 302. For instance, the symbols can be letters, numeralsand/or other symbols that tend to occur in DVDs of a particular formatand tend not to occur in DVDs of other formats. For instance, thesequence of symbols can be a title of a directory or folder or file,among others.

Based upon the identified format, the method references multiplepredefined entities of the content at block 304. For instance, theentities can be directories, folder, files, or other organizationalentities of the DVD content. So, for example, the method can referencetwo directories, two folders, two files, a folder and a file, adirectory and a file, etc. Referencing two entities avoids potentialinstances of assigning a unique ID to two different DVDs. Further, thepresent techniques can readily include future DVD formats. A specificimplementation is described in detail below which generates a 25character unique ID for each DVD. Of course, other implementations cangenerate unique IDs that have more or less characters so long as theselected number of characters can generate at least as many unique IDsas a number of DVDs that may exist now or in the future.

In the present example, the unique ID is a 25 character long string thatcontains alpha numeric characters. In this case, the first 2 characterswill denote the type of disc. Table 1 below denotes several disc types.Other DVD formats can also be accommodated.

TABLE 1 First 2 characters Disc Type HD HD-DVD BD Blue-Ray WH WMV-HD SDStandard DVD

The remaining 23 characters of this implementation are defined below.

HD-DVD

HD-DVD format is specified in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Characters Value 1 to 2 HD  3 to 17 15 character hexadecimalvalue generated by hashing the contents of ‘VPLST000.xpl’ under‘ADV_OBJ’ directory in the root directory of the disc and grabbing thefirst 15 characters. 18 to 25 8 character hexadecimal value generated byhashing all the file sizes under the ‘ADV_OBJ’ directory in the rootdirectory of the disc and grabbing the first 8 characters.Blu-Ray

If the Blu-ray disc has a ‘mcmf.xml’ file under ‘ARCS’ directory thenthe locations are defined in Table 3. If the Blu-ray disc does not havea ‘mcmf.xml’ file under ‘AACS’ directory then the locations are definedin Table 4.

TABLE 3 Characters Value 1 to 2 BD  3 to 17 15 character hexadecimalvalue generated by hashing the contents of ‘mcmf.xml’ file under ‘AACS’directory in the root directory of the disc and grabbing the first 15characters. 18 to 25 8 character hexadecimal value generated by hashingall the file sizes under the ‘BDMV’ directory in the root directory ofthe disc and grabbing the first 8 characters.

TABLE 4 Characters Value 1 to 2 BD  3 to 25 23 character hexadecimalvalue generated by hashing all the file sizes under the ‘BDMV’ directoryin the root directory of the disc and grabbing the first 8 characters.WMV-HD

WMV-HD locations are described below in relation to Table 5.

TABLE 5 Characters Value 1 to 2 WH  3 to 10 8 character hexadecimalvalue generated by hashing all the file sizes under the root directoryof the disc and grabbing the first 8 characters. 11 to 18 8 characterhexadecimal value generated by hashing all the file sizes under the‘Menu’ directory in the root directory of the disc and grabbing thefirst 8 characters. 19 to 25 7 character hexadecimal value generated byhashing all the file sizes under the ‘Video’ directory in the rootdirectory of the disc and grabbing the first 7 characters.

The method hashes data from the multiple predefined entities to generatea unique identification for the media content at block 306. In the aboveexample, the data that is hashed is defined in the corresponding table.The skilled artisan should recognize other implementations that satisfythe present goals of consistently generating the same unique ID for agiven DVD and avoiding assigning the same unique ID to two differentDVDs. The present concepts, rather than being restrictive in natureand/or tied to a specific DVD format, are instead readily adaptable tomany (and potentially all) existing and yet to be developed DVD formats.

CONCLUSION

Although techniques, methods, devices, systems, etc., pertaining to DVDidentification scenarios are described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claimed methods, devices, systems, etc.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying a firstDVD format of a DVD by locating a specific sequence of symbols on theDVD and matching the specific sequence of symbols on the DVD to formatdata, the format data comprising a plurality of digital versatile disc(DVD) formats and corresponding symbols that identify individual DVDformats including the first DVD format; referencing content stored onthe DVD in a first location that is used to generate identifications forthe first DVD format, the first location being identified by referencingidentification (ID) processing data that also identifies other locationsthat are used to generate identifications for DVD formats other than thefirst DVD format; and hashing the content stored on the DVD in the firstlocation to generate an identification for the DVD.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the format data is a format datatable.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the ID processing data is an ID processing datatable.